Chalk this one up in your history books ladies and gents. You may not be a geek or lover of technology, but the fact that Apple just announced that this MacWorld will be the last one in history is big news. MacWorld is a major Apple trade show. It’s the location where Steve Jobs launched such ground breaking products as the iPhone, iPod, etc and now it’s all over. 

So what is the significance of all this? Well, trade shows used to be a great way of reaching out and engaging customers. However, it is much easier to reach the customer today than ever before. More importantly its much cheaper also. With the use of web based technologies such as twitter and other social networks, trade shows are becoming far less important. 

With the end of MacWorld, could we be witnessing the end of the trade show era in general? Only time will tell, what do you think?

Apple announces final MacWorld, Steve Jobs won’t deliver keynote: Engadget 

Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers. The increasing popularity of Apple’s Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways.

Apple has been steadily scaling back on trade shows in recent years, including NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris.